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don’t have time for cover art and little write ups, so you will have to deal with the list dump style of this post (cover art and sometimes scans of liner notes should be in most archives). Includes 2 versions of the much sought after and rare Dogon vinyl, with substantial differences in tracklisting, which among the first wave of awesome recordings was never reissued on CD.

For the uninitiated, OCORA was one of, if not the, most well researched and presented labels which dealt with indigenous sounds from all over the earth, and i made the promise, which i still do intend on keeping, of making the entire past catalog of 500+ recordings available on this blog. there has been quite a few South Asian and African posts already, just look for it. To be continued.

Rougher and tougher twin of the previous DRUM volume, Amandla explores the somber and serious side of contemporary electronic dance music from South Africa and Angola. In 2013 capitalist brainwashing and new waves of cultural and economic imperialism replaces the overtly oppressive policies of Apartheid and colonialism; inequity, injustice, and corruption still pandemic on the African continent; but the indestructible beat of Soweto, Pretoria and Luanda lives on. These new urban sounds express the frustration, longing, joy and hope of a new generation, the continuing struggle and POWER of the people. Rhythm as a weapon, music as a weapon: a real weapon in the concrete sense. Africa! Mayibuye! Amandla!

Grounded in the rhythmic traditions and tonal language of North Africa and the Middle East*, Djinn Bass fuses Sufi Ritual Music and Club Beats, Sacred Egyptian Hymns and Abstract Dub, Classic Rai and Dubstep, Turkish Taqsim and Tech House, Moroccan Chaabi anthems and Tribal Electro. Ouds, Flutes, and Darbukas mix and blend with electronic pulse; vocal refrains underpinned by digital bass, sometimes chopped, looped, and dubbed out. Decidedly anti short-attention-span, as the FUSION series have increasingly become, the tracks are long because duration is essential for the ecstatic and immersive nature of this music.

I have seen this band twice now, the first at Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt, around 2009, where they played a long-form, track-less continuous set where the unbelievable ecstatic energy just kept building and building — just when you think it can not possibly get any more hype, the drummers would kick it up another notch – the electric mbiras sending out ever greater waves of rhythmelody.

Second time i played after them in Leipzig, Ut Connewitz (photos), Feb. 2011. This time it was songs, and they had a deeper, lower register and lower tempo, almost rock’n’roll sound, with the amplified mbiras sounding at times like the epic overtones of RHYS CHATHAM’s 1000 electric guitars.

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this 1 hour long sound-board recording from Stadtgarten Cologne May 14th 2010 is truly delicious: great quality and fully capturing their magic – i like it better than their studio albums (for sure Konono needs to be experienced live to truly understand their unique power and finesse)

sorry, link taken down at Crammed Disc’s request.

instead, i will upload the mother lode: the first recording of this music ever, the amazing and super rare original 2+ hours long double tape release of the various groups which are closely related to and later became today’s version of Konono No. 1, recorded in 1978 and released in 1985, from which the legendary Ocora CD (73 minutes in duration) was culled (which, at the time of release, re-ignited interest in the group and made possible their international success today). The CD has always been one of my favorite albums in any genre, and now we have the much longer original recordings! (thanks to the one they call Bolingo).

original tape cover and back below. but in addition to the 4 half hour long tracks listed, the version we have here, for an unknown reason, has a great extra 15 minute long 5th track!

“I first heard the group in 1979 on a France Culture broadcast and was blown away. Soon after I played the music to Congolese musician Ray Lema, claiming rather provokingly that this was “the Congolese music of the future.” … The France Culture recordings, produced by Bernard Treton, came out in 1985 on Radio France’s label Ocora (Musiques Urbaines a Kinshasa). Only 15 years later did I finally get a chance to see the group live.

In 1989 I went to Kinshasa & looked for Konono No. 1 and Muyamba Nyunyi (also featured on Treton’s tapes) but couldn’t find them. I did meet Swede Swede, another “tradi-modern” group with whom I recorded the album Toleki Bango in Brussels the following year — this was my first job as a producer … In Kin again in 1996 I was told that Konono No. 1 had ceased their activities and were scattered between Congo and Angola. Then in 2000 the president of their fan club told me that the group was expected to return from Angola soon. I left a note and promised I’d be back in a few months. In July Le Tout Puissant Likembe Konono No. 1 was ready for an audition, complete with 3 electric likembes, a drumkit made of hub caps, and a PA system made of two “lance-voix” (“voice-throwers,” i.e. megaphones used by the Belgian colonizers before independence to diffuse radio broadcasts in the streets) which were probably the same ones featured on the 1978 recordings. I like to think that Konono No. 1 partly owes its resurrection to me — but I suppose this is a favorite fantasy of all producers!” (continue reading here. and even more here)

seriously doubt anyone will have a problem with this share, as monolithic and golden as it is, since this tape was soon out of print after release, and the CD version by now as well, after the great museum of Ocora went out of business (another sure sign of our certain collective doom).

In Yoruba spiritual traditions (contemporary Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria) as well as its descendant Afro-diasporic faiths like Vodou, Santeria/Lukumi and Candomble, Eshu is the divine messenger between Gods and Man, the gatekeeper, protector of travelers, guardian of the Crossroads, offering choices and reveals possibilities. Often identified by the number three, and the colours red & black, Eshu represents the balance of nature, Day and night, creation and destruction, old age and youth. Yet more than conduit between this and other worlds, Eshu is also a spirit of Chaos and a devious trickster, playing games and serving up mischief with the ultimate aim of waking people up and teaching them lessons.

So, in the spirit of Eshu, FUSION 3 represents the balance between traditional and modern, “east” and “west”, listening and dancing. This mashup album stands at the crossroads between the musical worlds of Yoruba talking steel drums, Cuban piano, Indonesian Gamelan, Cameroon Mbira (thumb piano), Black Panther poetry, South African Jazz, etc., and the House and Techno club sounds of today.

I think it will play a few tricks on minds which insist on seeing the world in discontinuously separate compartments.

the first 8 volumes in this Reboot.fm radio series. for tracklisting please go to the soundcloud pages for each show. to download of course simply click the downward aarow on the right side of the player for each show.

Umlilo means fire in Zulu, and this mix takes us back to the Dirty South for a scorching ride through raw township sound. Exchanging smooth for ruff, Umlilo focuses on the connection between ghetto Rap and current Electro, between modern SA House and its Kwaito roots.

Futurism in Africa never disconnected at all from the body: sound design does not become a solipsistic end in itself (even though every timber and texture is perfection itslef); song form stays 100% intact in the electronic club music format; and the beats never bang on aimless and without purpose — robust machine groove reinterprets but absolutely incarnates the magic and essence of timeless rhythmic tradition.

regarding the first song: what kind of church drops sick bass like this?? (sign me up!)

Historically the Afro-Caribbean connection has produced so much amazing music about romantic love. Particularly, Angola and Cape Verde has developed specific strands of musical expression which focus on a special feeling: that of loss and longing, of desire and nostalgia, of love mixed with sadness. (an example most are familiar with would be the Cape Verdean Morna artist Cesaria Evora) I believe that the best love songs in the world are actually about the lack of love, and this mix focuses on music both sexy and deeply emotional.

Since Zouk arrived (back) in Africa from the Guadeloupe and Martinique islands, where rhythms and melodies of the African “expats” mixed with Rumba, Calypso, Gwo Ka, Compas, Reggae, and even Salsa (and where they must have looked across the ocean with infinite longing for home), it has since been influenced by another deeply emotional music: Portugese Fado. Long story short, during the last few decades Zouk, Kizomba, and related styles have become IMMENSELY popular and ubiquitous in many parts of Africa.

But, sadly, we all know what this kind of huge commercial success does to a genre: it becomes cheap and watered down, and quantity replaces quality. Thus 99% of the modern Zouk and Kizomba we encounter today is tacky and paltry rubbish of incredibly bad taste, garishly saccharine instead of deeply moving like the Zouk of bygone years. Yet in this sordid state of affairs there are artists who are producing music which retain more than a touch of the golden years, making songs that are soul stirring as they are irresistible on the modern dance floor. So if one digs deeper, there IS such a thing as good contemporary Zouk and Kizomba: this is what i hope to convince people of, especially long time lovers of African music who have given up on these genres.

Not sure what Kuduro means in the Kimbundu language of northern Angola, but its colorful translation in Portuguese is in some ways fitting of the music in both form and theme. Still, even though a lot of the music is hard, and a lot of the songs about fucking, the phrase is very much limited in describing the rich layers of word and sound, and becomes reductionist if taken only at face value. Kuduro can also be playful, humorous, soulful, emotional, ominous, scary, joyful, celebratory, and uplifting. It is also sonically adventurous in radical ways, fearless in its pushing and often destruction of dance music’s aesthetic boundaries, in ways often more bold and creative than sound-design obsessed electronic music from North America or Europe: from sweet accordions to reckless synths, from 8-bit game console palettes to near industrial noise, from samples distorted way beyond recognition to some of the deepest basslines in the world. And the vocals are just as wildly diverse: from “normal” singing to what sounds like children rapping to animalistic growling, grunting, yelling.

The many different flavors of Kuduro come from both its roots as well as later influence: mainly evolving from Batida rhythms (itself a fusion of African, Brazilian, and Caribbean traditions) of the 1980s, Kuduro has since branched out to sometimes incorporate elements from many other styles including Cape Verdean Funaná, Coupé-Décalé from France and the Ivory Coast, Afro-Brazilian percussion, Western Hiphop and Techno. A concise example of this melting of tradition, current club culture, and sonic experimentation might be track 28: Batida – Tribalismo Com Sacerdote, in which what sounds like distorted Mbiras (thumb piano) coexist with Angolan rap, furious rave energy and absolutely mental synth lines which verge on noise.

And speaking of Western Hiphop and Techno, this mix adopts quite a few Detroit Ghetto-Tech and Chicago Juke samples, to draw parallels between inner-city Afro-diaspora underground and African urban sound. Because, at least from where i’m standing, the Parallels are many: relentless and insistent focus on rhythm; use of repetition past the point of monotony in becoming pure abstraction; fast tempo and intensity pushing the dancefloor near breaking-point; gritty, raw, and unpolished sound; and finally, ruthless libidinal energy which defies any attempts at restraint.

Also, besides a few entirely unexpected and thrilling use of cultural pastiche in the songs themselves, there are 2 of my mashups here: track 16 which incorporates Indonesian Jaipong drums and track 35 which transforms the orchestral version of an old rave number we all know. Mostly consisting of both older and newer Kuduro from Angola, this mix also includes a few songs from Tanzania, Cote d’Ivoire, Cape Verde, and Brazil. I tried to avoid Western interpretations of Kuduro altogether, but 3 tunes feature non-African collaborating producers or remixers: their inclusion is testament of the strength of these tracks.

Framing house music, perhaps the most depoliticized of all urban musics, whose narrative revolve around unreflective pleasure seeking, in a political context may seem incredulous to some. Yet this incredulity would be based on a superficial reading of the essence of house music culture, despite what it has become in the commercial sphere: in its very inception, the escapism into a fantasy hedonistic world was an expression of the underprivileged and marginalized, and the creation of a sanctuary of acceptance was nothing less than a political act of the oppressed and discriminated against.

Perhaps even more than Chicago or Detriot 67, the political dimension is deeply interwoven into the urban musical fabric of South Africa, and has profoundly influenced its evolution. Zulu protest songs live on through Kwaito, the first musical expression of a free South Africa, and from there the current House culture developed: if less overtly rebellious, it nonetheless retains in its beats and voices the spirit of revolt: the urgent and passionate expression of a people who have been subjugated for too long.

The Zulu word Ukulwa means war and struggle. and in this context it can only mean a war against oppression and the struggle for freedom and independence. Apartheid may have officially ended, but its myriad effects can be unmistakably felt in a slew of social problems which plague the nation today, from crime to domestic violence as result of the break up of families, from poverty to various hardships which come from an entire generation having been systematically deprived of formal education. Thus even while many positive things are taking place, as South Africa is surely rising as a proud modern nation, even as we rejoice in these blissful rhythms, we must remember this war, and both continue, and continue to be inspired by, this struggle against domination, against injustice: Ukulwa.

i made this mix for smaller and “normal” local bars and clubs: really tried to make something both for the general public, meaning anyone from any walk of life, as well as the music heads. the ideal is a CD that almost any bar anywhere in the world can pop in their stereo at any given night and have people nod their heads, tap their feet, and maybe even get a little jiggy. how close the actual product ended up being to this ideal is yet to be tested, as well as my thesis that one does not have to succumb to lowest common denominators to appeal to everyone. (we will see, i have already started giving these out to local establishments in berlin)

Heavy on both classic and modern Kwaito: Arthur Mafokate’s 1993 track Oyi Oyi, TKZEE with their Kwaito offshoot style known as Guz, and the immense talent that was Mawillies (RIP), whose effortlessly powerful voice graces the track GaGu.

Also tunes from other parts of Africa: the AshThomas project and Marvelous Benji from Nigeria, DJ Rams from in Angola, and Emmanuel Jal, the Sudanese singer with the crazy personal history.

Always great to find one great Bhangra tune on too many an album of otherwise generic numbers and a little taste of classic cumbia gold. A few all time Dancehall bangers and reggaeton, oh how i wish they still made them like El General did in Panama back in the early 90s. (all of these sounds need their own NGOMA volume, yes i do realize. thanks 🙂

while staying in the same territory as 2, the journey is not the same, and many things make this one unique: the psychedelic motorik genius of Dj Clock’s “Durban Guitar”; the monolithic, earth shaking visions of Black Coffee; DJ Sdoko’s ominous Kraftwerkian phuture; Manya’s soul stirring take on traditonal Angolan melodies; a surprisingly wicked banger from the Dutch DJ Bigga (UK is not the only place currently Afro minded), and ending with a further reach of rhythmic diaspora: Sami vocal style from Mari Boine, reinterpreting the sound of indigenous Norway.

concerning the anti-apartheid and war samples used through out the mix: the struggle for freedom from colonialism is the context which gave rise to contemporary South African music: Kwaito was born amidst antagonism and bloodshed, and has led to the current house music scene. thus songs such as “100 Zulu Warriors” and the radio broadcast at the end should not be taken as an incitement of racial conflict (especially in light of last year’s wave of horrible xenophobia) but as a reminder of the political realities of the Apartheid era from which this music comes.

The drum comes from Africa, and also techno. Here is an extremely simplified version of the lineage: slave songs – blues – gospel – jazz – funk – disco – house – techno —- the circle is complete. After all, the 4 on the floor hypnotic groove can be found in the myriad styles of African music from every era. House and techno grew up in the northern hemisphere, acquiring a character a bit removed from the rich rhythmic traditions of the mother continent. But in recent decades electronic dance music has been developing in Africa, and a new wave of club music is blossoming and flourishing.

History was made in 2008 with Warp Records’ release of DJ Mujava’s Township Funk in Europe, and the world is slowly coming to grips with the awesome power of African electronic music. Motherland house and techno is spreading far and wide, forming the rhythmic basis for urban bass music in the UK and elsewhere: Africanized Killer Beats on the swarm!

The positive side of globalization: irresistable 21st century urban music arise on every continent. India, Cuba, Tanzania, Egypt, Cape Town, these are just a few places where wild hybrid styles are born: futuristic, bass heavy and electronic, yet drawing from the wealth of local musical heritage. the NGOMA series bring the heat from musical hotspots across the known world — the wickedest beats and sweetest flows.

NGOMA SOUNDSYSTEM

a trio of DJ, Percussion, and Reed instruments, NGOMA Soundsystem fuses past and future, east and west, ancestral rhythms and hyper-modern sound. Ngoma Soundsystem connects the hottest dance music styles new and old from the Motherland and beyond with improvised rhythmic and melodic invention. Dynamic interplay of live instrumentation with dj and computer makes NGOMA Soundsystem a versatile and powerful musical entity operating against all fictional cultural borders and illusions of separation.

DJ ZHAO

DJ Zhao brings the best contemporary and classic dance music together from all five continents, with focus on Africa. With in depth selections spanning wildly different times and places, DJ Zhao’s remix and mashup work directly connects "East" and "West", acoustic and electronic, traditional and hyper-modern. Amateur ethno-musicologist and professional booty shaker, Zhao is an International Ambas...sador of BASS not only talking about, but demonstrating through raw sound experience, the underlying unity of all earth cultures.

Born and Raised in Beijing, China, and active as DJ and sound curator in the US since 2000, Zhao has organized critically acclaimed long running events focusing on Improvisation and Sound Art as well as Techno. After relocating to Berlin, Germany, and starting the Ngoma collective, Zhao has been performing regularly at clubs and festivals including: